Method and device for automatic sleeve feed to roll-cutting machines of the support roller type

ABSTRACT

In a method and apparatus for automatically feeding sleeves in roll cutting machines of the support roller type, a wide web (12) of paper or the like is unwound at an unwinding station (10). At a cutting station (20) the wide web (12) is slit lengthwise into at least two narrower, partial-width webs (24). The narrower, partial-width webs (24) are wound up using winding sleeves (44, 54) at two winding stations (40, 50) arranged either side of the support roller(s) (30) and each comprising at least one winding device (41, 51) so that adjacent partial-width webs (24) are wound at different winding stations (40, 50 respectively). The winding sleeves (44, 54) are pushed in a feeding device (60) into a transfer position oriented parallel to the support roll or rollers (30) in a row one after the other in order to the winding devices to be loaded, distributed from their transfer positions to both sides of the support roller(s) and transported to the loading positions in the winding devices (41, 51), in order to be loaded there for the purpose of later receiving their partial-width webs. The winding sleeves (44, 54) which are in their transfer positions and distributed to both sides of the support roller(s) are taken up by the transport devices (70) arranged at the respective winding devices (41, 51) and raised or lowered along a substantially straight line into the loading positions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method for automatically feeding windingsleeves to a roll-cutting machine of the support roll type, as well as aroll-cutting machine for implementing the method.

In roll-cutting machines of the support roller type, the winding devicesare usually so-called centre winders, since the clamping heads grippingthe winding sleeves for holding the ends of the cut sheets to be woundare driven in the winding direction. These known roll-cutting machinesproduce good winding results and have been used in the industry for manyyears. The production capacity of these machines is greatly limited bythe amount of time and effort required to change the rolls/windingsleeves. This procedure takes from five to either minutes and requiresup to four or five workers, depending on the number of stations. Theaverage cutting and winding time amounts to approximately 12 minutes.This means that the machine is not productive 30 to 40% of the time (DE38 00 703 A1).

In roll cutting machines with one support roll as well as in those withtwo support rolls, with the sheets being fed from below in to thewinding station, it is known to feed the winding sleeves automaticallyfrom above the support roll(s). According to DE 38 00 703 A1, a feedbeam is provided for each of the two winding stations positionedalongside the support roll(s); this feed beam extends across the entirewidth of the machine, which can be eight to ten meters, and is supportedby swivel arms at the end faces of the machines. Each feed beam has agroove for holding the winding sleeves. If the two feed beams areswivelled toward each other and are positioned close together, the twogrooves lie so close together that there is room for only one windingsleeve in each longitudinal segment of the feed beam. This makes itpossible to alternately transfer the winding sleeves, which are alreadycut to length, from one feed beam end to the groove on one feed beam orthe other an, with the aid of a slide, push the entire unit along thetwo grooves until it reaches the transfer positions corresponding to thewinding fixtures positions. The winding sleeves are thus distributed tothe two grooves belonging to each of the winding stations as soon asthey are inserted into the grooves. A functionally reliable distributionis difficult in this case. In order to fit the individual windingfixtures with new winding sleeves, the feed beams must be swivelled inan arc in the direction of the support arm pairs for the windingfixtures. While they are being swivelled, the winding sleeves roll intothe grooves receiving them from one initial stable position to anotherstable position, where they are prevented from rolling out of the grooveby a swivelling stop. The stops are pivotably attached to the feed beamunder a spring loading so that the stop plate positioned in the regionof the support arms for the winding fixtures can avoid contact with thesupport arms.

This known feed device has three primary disadvantages: First, there isa danger that, when the winding sleeves roll from one stable position tothe other, the swing (momentum) of the rolling winding sleeves becomesso great that the stop plates whose surfaces are rounded cannot stopthis rolling movement. This danger is present primarily with windingsleeves of a relatively large diameter and/or a relatively great weight.Secondly, alignment of the winding sleeves to the clamping heads of thewinding fixtures requires great effort, primarily if the winding sleevediameter has to be changed and/or sleeves of different diameters are tobe wound during a single winding cycle. Finally, it is difficult totransfer winding sleeves in different grooves to their precise transferpositions.

Some simplification of the winding sleeve feed device is proposed in DE37 37 503 A1 for a roll-cutting machine with two support rolls. In thismachine, all winding sleeves necessary for a single winding cycle arepositioned in a single groove. The winding sleeves are not distributedto the sides corresponding to the two winding stations until the windingsleeves have been placed in their transfer positions corresponding tothe winding fixtures. They are distributed by flipping open the groovefrom below and transferring the winding sleeves to alternating grippingarms which pull the winding sleeves to the correct side and place themon an inclined pane leading to the clamping position of the relevantwinding sleeve. These known winding sleeve feed devices also require astop which prevents the winding sleeve from rolling further and holds itin the precise clamping position. This known winding sleeve feed devicerequires a relatively large number of moving parts. It also requires agreat deal of alignment work when the width of the cut sheets and/orwinding sleeve diameters are changed. Finally, when changing the cutsheet widths, the gripping arms must be re-aligned independently, i.e.separately from the winding devices. A box girder extending across theentire width of the machine and having side-mounted guide rails whichcan be fitted with slides has to be provided for this purpose.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is therefore based on the problem of providing a methodand a device of the type mentioned above to simplify the automatic feedof winding sleeves to the winding fixtures. To solve this problem, thisinvention proposes a method and apparatus where the winding sleeves aremoved translationally along a straight line, either vertically or at anangle to the vertical, by a transport device at each winding station.

Among other things, the invention achieves the following:

The winding sleeves can be precisely and rapidly centred in the centreof the clamping heads and the winding sleeves transported from thetransfer to the clamping position;

Adjustment of the holding point of the transport fixture at the clampingposition is simple, precise and, in particular, programmable, so thatsleeves of different diameters can be used without any problem, i.e.different sleeves on different winding devices as well as--inprinciple--different sleeves on the same winding fixture from one cycleto another, with the option of fully automating this procedure.

The transport devices according to the invention can be used inroll-cutting machines with a single support roll as well as forroll-cutting machines with two support rolls; likewise, the cut sheetscan be fed to the support rolls from below as well as from above.

Rectilinear motion according to the invention, which is a lifting or alowering motion, does not need to be vertical but can also be carriedout at an angle, i.e. with a substantial horizontal component; this isgenerally necessary when the winding sleeves are advanced to a positionabove one or both support rolls, i.e. with the cut sheets normally beingfed to the support roll(s) from below. In these instances, the windingsleeve must be lowered from their transfer positions on the transportdevices to their clamping positions. If, in one of the preferred cases,the feed device for the winding sleeves is positioned beneath thepreferably single support roll or beneath the two support rolls, thewinding sleeves are lifted from their transfer positions on thetransport devices to their clamping positions, and the angle ofinclination of rectilinear transport motion can be kept to a minimum inrelation to the preferred purely vertical movement; both measures(lifting and small angle of inclination) are advantageous for easy andsecure positioning of the winding sleeves in the holders on thetransport devices.

An important consideration for the invention is the fact that thetransport devices consist of lifting and lowering elements, i.e.transport devices which essentially move along a straight line, such aspiston/cylinder arrangements, spindle drives, linear motors and similarrectilinear transport devices which are preferred for this purpose.According to the invention, it is preferred that the transport motionshould be exclusively rectilinear, i.e. the angular position of thetransport devices in relation to the vertical direction should remainconstant throughout the lifting and lowering operation. In principle,however, it is also possible to superimpose a certain swivel motion ofthe transport device on the lifting or lowering motion.

Each of the winding devices in a roll-cutting machine should be assigneda certain transport device and, in particular, the winding device andits corresponding transport device should always be moved together. Inprinciple, this makes it possible to fit each transport device with asingle lifting or lowering element; according to the preferredarrangement, however, each side of each winding device, i.e.particularly each supporting arm, should be assigned its own transportdevice, with both devices preferably moved as a single unit; eachtransport device thus consists of two spaced apart lifting and loweringelements. When changing the width of the cut sheets, this eliminates theneed to move and/or realign the transport devices separately; likewise,this type of device--as described in greater detail below--makes itpossible to transfer the winding sleeve with the holders on the liftingor lowering elements with particular ease, i.e. with little effort, andwith precision.

Fundamentally, however, it is also conceivable to fit each windingstation, i.e. each side of the support roll(s), with only one pair oflifting or lowering elements and arrange all holders for the windingsleeves intended for the relevant machine side on a cross beam movedjointly by the two lifting/lowering elements, without departing from thebasic idea of the invention.

"Grooves" for jointly holding all winding sleeves necessary for thewinding fixtures of the winding stations, i.e. for holding a completeset of winding sleeves, are, according to the invention, actual groovesor groove-like holding devices which make it possible to hold allwinding sleeves or a set sequentially in their axial direction,particularly so that the winding sleeves can be pushed from one end ofthe machine and into these "grooves", as described, for example, in DE38 00 702 A1. In contrast to DE 38 00 702 A1, which stipulates a doublegroove, this type of groove should have a "single-track" design, i.e.the axes of all winding sleeves should lie on the same straight line or,if the winding sleeves have different diameters, the winding sleeve axesshould like on the same vertical plane; with the "groove" described inDE 37 37 503 A1, this is already the case and has an advantage in thefact that, when inserting the winding sleeves into the "groove" from oneend of the machine, the sleeves do not need to be distributed to the twosides of the machine, i.e. to the two winding stations, as is requiredby DE 38 00 702 A1.

The winding sleeves should be removed from the "groove" by the holdersof the lifting/lowering elements, preferably by placing the windingsleeve holders of the individual transport devices in their windingsleeve holding positions alongside the groove so that they "grip" the"ejected" winding sleeves. "Ejecting" the winding sleeves at the"groove" has already been generally described in DE 37 37 503 A1 andmeans that the winding sleeves are advanced, for example, to at leastone inclined plane on each side of the machine, over which they roll bytheir gravitational force, thereby losing height, and that the sleevesassigned to the two winding stations are positioned at a lateraldistance from each other. "Gripping" these winding sleeves with theholders according to the invention means that the freely moving windingsleeves are once again placed in a defined position after beingdistributed to the two sides of the machine.

The tools for ejecting the winding sleeves can be realised in variousways. Alternative embodiments are preferred. In both instances, whichare practical even without the measures and can be advantageous, onlyone groove is necessary for holding an entire set of winding sleeves.According to one embodiment, at least one lifting element is requiredfor each winding sleeve, while, according to another embodiment, eachwinding sleeve should be fitted with at least one restrainer, preferablytwo restrainers. With the aid of the elements for "ejecting" the windingsleeves from the "groove", the winding sleeves are distributed to thetwo sides of the machine, i.e. to the corresponding winding stations.

However, it is fundamentally conceivable to design the device so thatthe lifting/lowering elements according to the invention distribute thewinding sleeves to the two sides of the machine. This could be achieved,for example, by moving the holders of the lifting/lowering elementsprecisely or approximately to the winding sleeve positions in which thewinding sleeves lie in the "groove" to transfer each winding sleevedirectly at that location, for example by lifting the winding sleeve outof the groove. In a case such as this, the swivelling action of thelifting/lowering elements, particularly around their base point, couldmove them to the angular position (in relation to the verticaldirection) corresponding to the angular position for transferring thewinding sleeves to their clamping position; in particular, alllifting/lowering elements on one side of the machine could be movedtogether, while the lifting/lowering motion of each transport device andpossibly even a movement across the direction of cut sheet movement,could be executed separately, and in particular programmed, for eachlifting/lowering element.

The components or procedural steps mentioned above as well as thoseclaimed, described n the embodiments and used according to the inventionare not subject to any special exceptional conditions in terms of theirsize, shape, material selection and technical-design or processconditions, so that the selection criteria known to the relevantapplication can have unlimited use.

Further details, characteristics and advantages of the subject matter ofthe invention are indicated in the following description of thecorresponding figure according to the examples of two preferred versionsof a winding sleeve feed device according to the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the rewinding device of a roll-cutting machine, viewed fromthe end face (View A in FIG. 8) and--schematically and on a reducedscale--the remaining assemblies of the roll-cutting machine;

FIG. 2 through FIG. 7 show a schematic representation of a sequence ofoperating cycles of the winding sleeve feed device and the cut sheetwinding process, otherwise viewed from the same perspective as in FIG.1;

FIG. 8 through FIG. 10 show a top view (corresponding to the view in thedirection of arrow B--B illustrated in FIG. 6) of a sequence of windingsleeve transfer operations from the groove to the lifting/loweringelements of the roll-cutting machine in FIGS. 1 through 7, omitting thesupport roll and roll-cutting station;

FIG. 11 through FIG. 16 show an alternative version of the windingsleeve feed device for the roll-cutting machine in FIG. 1, viewed fromthe same perspective as FIGS. 1 through 7, in the form of the sequenceof a winding sleeve feed cycle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the roll-cutting machine according to FIG. 1, number (10) designatesa winding station in its entirety for at least one wide roll (11) for asheet (12) of paper or similar material. The unwound, but still uncutsheet (12) is fed to a cutting station designated in its entirety withnumber (20), which has, among other things, a number of rolls (21), (22). . . , at least one longitudinal cutter (23) and other essentiallyknown elements.

The cut sheets (24), produced in the cutting station (20) by cutting thesheet lengthwise (12), are fed to a support roll (30) which extendsacross the entire width of the machine and can have, if necessary, avacuum suction device for holding the ends of the cut sheets.

All winding sleeves (44) and (54) forming a single set, which arerequired for a single winding cycle, are fed via a feed device (60),whose general functions are known, to the roll-cutting machine, fromwhere they are passed on to the individual winding fixtures (41) and(51). An elongated support element, which is designated for the timebeing as a groove (61) and extends across the entire width of themachine, below and parallel to the support roll (30), is provided forthis purpose. The winding sleeves (44) and (54) can be inserted into thegroove (61) from one end of the machine through an opening (32) in oneof the two supports (31). This operation can be accomplished throughknown means such as those described in DE 38 00 702 A1.

The feed device (60) also consists of transport devices (70) whichreceive the winding sleeves (44) and (54) from the groove (61) and movethem along a straight line to the clamping position (shown on theleft-hand side of the illustration in FIG. 1), i.e. the position of theclamping devices (53) illustrated at that location. The transportdevices (70) are lifting/lowering elements fitted with a two-armedholder (71), according to the embodiment described, which is fastened tothe upper end of each lifting/lowering element and permits preciseholding and positioning during transport to the clamping position alongthe broken line (72). FIG. 1 shows winding station (50) in its clampingposition and winding station (40) in its winding position. However, allwinding devices are normally in the same operating position.

The transport devices (70) can be designed, for example, aselectromechanical lift cylinders--with or without drive (70'). This typeof lifting/lowering element is available on the market in a wide varietyof forms and must therefore be regarded as known devices, thus requiringno explanation in greater detail. Among other things, they permitprecise movement to adjustable end positions by means of preprogramming.The transport devices need be aligned to the clamping position only oncewhen holders (73) are provided which permit the transport devicesfixtures to be set in a specific direction and these holders (73) can befastened to the corresponding support elements (49) and (59) of therelevant winding fixture halves.

The winding sleeve (44) or (54) is transferred from the groove (61) tothe holders (71) by "ejecting" it from the groove (61) and "gripping" itby the holders (71). In order to do this, the groove (61) is positionedso that it can be swivelled around an axis (62) in its longitudinaldirection, with the swivel motion to one or the other side of the groovebeing executed by at least one swivelling device (63). This permits thegroove (61) to be swivelled toward one side or the other until thewinding sleeves (44) and (54) roll laterally out of the groove (61) andare passed on directly to the holders (71) via inclined planes (64).Restrainers (65) prevent winding sleeves (54) and (44) intended for thecorresponding opposed winding stations (50) and (40) from beingtransferred to the incorrect winding station.

The construction details and movement sequences can be derived from thefollowing description of a complete operating cycle of the rewindingdevice on the basis of FIGS. 2 through 10 and--for an alternativeembodiment--on the basis of FIGS. 11 through 16.

FIG. 2 shows the phase in which the cut sheet rolls (25) are workedshortly before they are finished. The winding sleeves (44) and (54)provided for the next rewinding cycle are already in the groove (61) ofthe feed devices (60). These winding sleeves have different diameters,while the two visible cut sheet rolls (25) are wound on winding sleeveswith identical diameters; cut sheet rolls lying behind them, andtherefore not visible, can naturally also be fitted with winding sleevesof different diameters.

FIG. 3 demonstrates how the cut sheet rolls (25) are placed on the floor(33) by swivelling the support arms (42) and (52) at the end of arewinding cycle. The cut sheets are then severed so that the cut sheetrolls (25) can be taken away and the next winding cycle prepared.However, this is not illustrated in detail, since it is not part of theobject of the invention and--in principle--is already known.

After placing the cut sheet rolls (25) on the floor (33), the clampingdevices (43) and (53) of the winding devices (41) and (51) must bereleased and removed from the winding sleeves in axial direction. Thisis done, for example, during the operating phase shown in FIG. 3, andcan--in principle--also take place at a later time. The point in time atwhich the finished cut sheet rolls (25) are removed laterally from thewinding stations (40) and (50) is essentially independent of theoperating phase. FIG. 5 shows the situation after removing the rolls.The support arms (42) and (52) then move to the clamping positionillustrated in FIG. 6 (and on the left-hand side of the illustration inFIG. 1) in which the new winding sleeves are to be clamped into therelevant winding fixture.

In the meantime, the process of feeding a new set of winding sleevestakes place--largely independently of the operational sequences ofrewinding cut sheets, severing cut sheets, removing cut sheet rolls,removing the clamping fixtures and transporting away finished cut sheetrolls, as well as swivelling the support arms back into their clampingposition. This process is described below.

As mentioned above, a complete set of winding sleeves is first insertedinto the groove (61). In order to do this, the winding sleeves shouldalready be cut to precise lengths and are inserted into the groove (61)from one end face of the machine, sorted according to diameter andlength. The winding sleeves must then be placed in their transferposition, i.e. in the position in which the winding devices (41) and(51) will later receive the winding sleeves (44) and (54). If thedesired cut sheet rolls are wide enough, the winding sleeves, which areplaced in a row in the groove, can lie edge to edge against one another.However, if the desired cut sheet rolls are so narrow that the clampingdevices (43) and (53) on each side cannot be moved apart to a sufficientdistance without causing the assemblies (41'), (41") and (51'), (51") ofadjacent winding devices to bump into each other, it is particularlyadvantageous to separate the winding devices of each winding stationalong the length of at least one support roll (3) once the cut sheetshave been severed. This will produce a sufficient lateral clearance inorder to subsequently separate the related sets of assemblies (41'),(41") and (51'), (51") and to receive the new winding sleeves (44) and(54). This transfer position is illustrated in FIGS. 8 through 10. Thispreferred procedure makes it necessary to first position the windingsleeves (44) and (54) at an axial distance from one another (FIG. 8)and, after transferring and clamping these new winding sleeves, move thewinding devices (41) and (51) of each winding station toward one anotherso that no axial gap in axial direction is left between the adjacent cutsheets (24) or cut sheet rolls (25).

The process of positioning the sleeves can be automated with slides orsimilar tools which are essentially known and are therefore notspecifically illustrated in the figure.

The sequence in FIGS. 3 through 5, which corresponds to the sequence inFIGS. 8 through 10, shows how the process of "ejecting" the windingsleeves from the groove (61) and "gripping" the winding sleeves with theholders (71) is carried out.

At first, all winding sleeves (44) and (54) are located in the transferpositions described in FIG. 8 in the single groove (61). If, as ispreferred and as indicated in FIG. 1 as well as in FIGS. 8 through 10,the transport devices (70), the inclined planes (64) and the restrainers(65) of each assembly (41'), (41") are permanently connected to and canbe moved laterally together with the latter, the sleeves are not"ejected" from the groove (61) until the above-mentioned assemblies arein their transfer positions illustrated in FIGS. 8 through 10.

If, as illustrated in FIG. 4 (corresponding to FIG. 9), the groove (61)is swivelled toward the winding station (50) (shown on the left-handside of the illustration), the winding sleeves (54) intended for thiswinding station will roll over the inclined plane (64) assigned toassemblies (51') and (51") and directly into the holders (71) of thiswinding station, while the winding sleeves (44) intended for windingstation (40) are held back by the restrainers (65) of assemblies (51')and (51") so that, when the groove (61) is swivelled back, they remainin or return to the groove (61) in order to be subsequently "ejected" tothe other side--toward winding station (40). The restrainers (65) canhave curved stop surfaces (66) for this purpose.

During "ejection" and "gripping" the support arms (42) and (52) can bein a position other than the clamping position (see FIGS. 4 and 5).However, to transfer the winding sleeves from the transport devices(70), using the clamping devices (43) and (53), the support arms (42)and (52) must be swivelled into the clamping position illustrated inFIG. 6 or 15. Since the curved lines of motion of the winding axes ofthe support arms (42), (52) in the clamping position are cut from theessentially straight line of motion of the winding sleeve axes, thetransport devices need be stopped only at specified points so thatsleeves of different thicknesses can be moved to an exact centrallocation in the clamping position. The clamping operation then begins,possibly by moving the winding fixtures laterally into the necessarywinding position and moving the new winding sleeves (44) and (54) towardthe support roll (30) where they come to a stop and are connected to therelevant cut sheet in an essentially known manner so that the nextwinding cycle can begin (FIG. 7).

The main difference between the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 11through 16 and the above-mentioned embodiment (according to FIGS. 1through 10) lies in the fact that the groove (61) in the former is notswivelled around its longitudinal axis, but rather a large number ofsmall lifting elements (67) are each positioned to the side of thegroove centre and along the groove (61); these lifting elements use, forexample, fluid-driven or magnetically driven rams (68) to lift thewinding sleeve (44) or (54) positioned in the relevant longitudinalsegment of the groove to the side until the relevant winding sleeve canbe removed past a lateral, upper dead centre (69') or (69") formed bythe groove (61).

The operating situation illustrated in FIG. 11 corresponds to that inFIG. 2.

FIG. 12 corresponds to FIG. 3.

FIG. 14 corresponds to FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 15 corresponds to FIG. 6, with a difference in that the clampingposition in FIG. 15 is combined with the winding position (correspondingto FIG. 7). For the sake of completeness, FIG. 16 additionallyillustrates how the transport fixtures are returned to the transferposition at the beginning of the winding cycle.

This version, illustrated in FIG. 13, has an additional specialcharacteristic: the inclined planes (64) are assigned to the assemblycontaining the groove (61) and not, as shown in FIGS. 1 through 10, tothe individual assemblies of the winding devices. The inclined planes(64) are formed by plate-like elements arranged sequentially atirregular intervals in the direction of machining (parallel to thebackup roll axis) and have a length which is shorter than half the widthof the minimum expected cut sheet width. These plates (64') can beswivelled around an axis (64") in the direction of the arrow illustratedin FIG. 13, so that they can be swivelled at least when they are in theposition of the support arms (42) and (52).

    ______________________________________                                        List of reference numbers                                                     ______________________________________                                        10   Winding station                                                                              56     Swivel path of winding axis                        11   Roll           57     Piston/cylinder device                             12   Sheet          58     Axis                                               20   Cutting station                                                                              59     Support element                                    21   Roll (roller)  60     Feed device                                        22   Roll (roller)  61     Groove                                             23   Longitudinal cutter                                                                          62     Swivel axis                                        24   Cut sheets     63     Swivel device                                      25   Cut sheet roll 64     Inclined plane                                     30   Support roll   64'    Plates                                             31   Supports       64"    Axis                                               32   Opening        65     Restrainers                                        33   Floor          66     Stop surfaces                                      40   Winding station                                                                              67     Lifting elements                                   41   Winding fixture                                                                              68     Ram                                                41'  Assembly       69'    Dead centre                                        41"  Assembly       69"    Dead centre                                        42   Support arm    70     Transport fixtures                                 43   Clamping device                                                                              70'    Drive                                              44   Winding sleeve 71     Holders                                            45   Swivel axis    72     Line                                               46   Swivel path of 73     Holders                                                 winding axis                                                             47   Piston/cylinder device                                                   48   Axis                                                                     49   Support element                                                          50   Winding station                                                                              A      View                                               51   Winding fixture                                                                              B      View                                               51'  Assembly                                                                 51"  Assembly                                                                 52   Support arm                                                              53   Clamping device (for holding sleeve)                                     54   Winding sleeve                                                           55   Swivel axis                                                              ______________________________________                                    

We claim:
 1. A method for automatically feeding winding sleeves into amachine for receiving a traveling web, which has been slitlongitudinally into a plurality of narrower, partial webs, and forwinding each of the plurality of partial webs onto a sleeve and into acorresponding plurality of wound web rolls, the machine including asupport roller, which is rotatable about a longitudinal axis, forsupporting the web rolls as they are wound, a plurality of pairs ofpivoted support arms, corresponding in number to the plurality of woundweb rolls and having at least one pair of support arms disposed oneither side of the support roller, comprising the steps:1) feeding aplurality of longitudinally aligned sleeves, corresponding in number tothe number of web rolls to be wound, into the machine along a loadingpath substantially parallel with, and substantially immediately beneath,the longitudinal axis of the support roller; 2) distributing the sleevestranslationally to a holding station on either side of the loading path,in a predetermined array, to remove them from the loading path andsubstantially from beneath the support roller, such distributingcomprising the sub-steps of:a) restraining pre-selected sleeves fromtranslational movement to a holding station on one side of the supportroller; b) distributing the remaining sleeves translationally to thesaid holding station on one side of the support roller; c) releasing therestrained sleeves from restraint; d) distributing the previouslyrestrained sleeves translationally to the holding station on the otherside of the support roller; 3) engaging each sleeve at either endthereof in its holding station and lifting it substantially along astraight line to region near the lateral periphery of the support rolleron corresponding sides thereof; 4) releasing each sleeve to be rotatablymounted in a corresponding pair of support arms, one support armdisposed near either end of each sleeve; 5) winding each partial webonto a corresponding sleeve while the sleeve is held in its support armsin nipping engagement with the support roller; 6) rotating the pairs ofsupport arms downwardly to bring the wound web rolls to a removalstation laterally on either side of the support roller; 7) severing thewebs being wound into the wound web rolls; 8) releasing the wound webrolls from the support arms.
 2. Apparatus for receiving a traveling webwhich has been slit longitudinally into a plurality of co-travelingpartial webs, and for automatically feeding a plurality of windingsleeves into the apparatus for winding each of the plurality of partialwebs onto a sleeve and into a corresponding plurality of wound webrolls, including a support roller, which is rotatable about alongitudinal axis, for supporting the web rolls as they are wound, aplurality of pairs of pivoted support arms, corresponding in number tothe plurality of wound web rolls, having at least one pair of supportarms disposed on either side of the support roller, wherein:a feeddevice means, disposed substantially beneath the support roller andextending longitudinally substantially parallel with the rotational axisof the support roller for receiving a plurality of longitudinallyaligned sleeves, the feed device means being pivotally mounted forselectively pivoting in either direction about its longitudinalextension, for selectively distributing the sleeves translationally oneither side of the support roller; inclined plane means for receivingthe distributed sleeves and maintaining them in a desired position atcorresponding stations laterally of the feed device means; transportmeans, disposed on either side of the support roller, for engagingcorresponding sleeves at their corresponding stations, and lifting thesleeves along a substantially straight path to a position laterallyadjacent to a respective peripheral side of the support roller; a pairof support arms pivotally disposed, and so arranged and constructed torotatably engage each sleeve from the transport means to wind a web rollon each sleeve.
 3. Apparatus for winding a traveling web into aplurality of wound web rolls as set forth in claim 2, wherein:the feeddevice means includes restraining means for selectively restrainingpredetermined ones of the sleeves from movement translationally in onelateral direction from the feed device means while the remaining sleevesare moved into position on the inclined plane means to be received attheir stations by corresponding pairs of support arms.